Non-linear Dynamics Commons^™

Teaching And Learning Of Fluid Mechanics, Ashwin Vaidya

Department of Mathematics Facuty Scholarship and Creative Works

Fluid mechanics occupies a privileged position in the sciences; it is taught in various science departments including physics, mathematics, environmental sciences and mechanical, chemical and civil engineering, with each highlighting a different aspect or interpretation of the foundation and applications of fluids. Doll’s fluid analogy [5] for this idea is especially relevant to this issue: “Emergence of creativity from complex flow of knowledge—example of Benard convection pattern as an analogy—dissipation or dispersal of knowledge (complex knowledge) results in emergent structures, i.e., creativity which in the context of education should be thought of as a unique way to arrange information so …

Mathematical Modeling And Optimal Control Of Alternative Pest Management For Alfalfa Agroecosystems, Cara Sulyok

Mathematics Honors Papers

This project develops mathematical models and computer simulations for cost-effective and environmentally-safe strategies to minimize plant damage from pests with optimal biodiversity levels. The desired goals are to identify tradeoffs between costs, impacts, and outcomes using the enemies hypothesis and polyculture in farming. A mathematical model including twelve size- and time-dependent parameters was created using a system of non-linear differential equations. It was shown to accurately fit results from open-field experiments and thus predict outcomes for scenarios not covered by these experiments.

The focus is on the application to alfalfa agroecosystems where field experiments and data were conducted and provided …

An Applied Mathematics Approach To Modeling Inflammation: Hematopoietic Bone Marrow Stem Cells, Systemic Estrogen And Wound Healing And Gas Exchange In The Lungs And Body, Racheal L. Cooper

Theses and Dissertations

Mathematical models apply to a multitude physiological processes and are used to make predictions and analyze outcomes of these processes. Specifically, in the medical field, a mathematical model uses a set of initial conditions that represents a physiological state as input and a set of parameter values are used to describe the interaction between variables being modeled. These models are used to analyze possible outcomes, and assist physicians in choosing the most appropriate treatment options for a particular situation. We aim to use mathematical modeling to analyze the dynamics of processes involved in the inflammatory process.

First, we create a …

On The Evolution Of Virulence, Thi Nguyen

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

The goal of this thesis is to study the dynamics behind the evolution of virulence. We examine first the underlying mechanics of linear systems of ordinary differential equations by investigating the classification of fixed points in these systems, then applying these techniques to nonlinear systems. We then seek to establish the validity of a system that models the population dynamics of uninfected and infected hosts---first with one parasite strain, then n strains. We define the basic reproductive ratio of a parasite, and study its relationship to the evolution of virulence. Lastly, we investigate the mathematics behind superinfection.